Exness Trading Hours — Spread and Movement by Hour · South Africa
How the measured spread and the average hourly movement change through the trading day on Exness’s MetaTrader 5 feed — measured 3 Sep · 09:54 SAST. Hours are platform server time.
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A trading hour is attractive when the market moves a lot relative to what entering costs. The last column divides the average hourly movement by the average spread in that hour — more movement per pip of spread means the hour is cheaper to trade relative to its opportunity, before strategy and news are considered.
EUR/USD hour by hour (measured)
| Hour (server) | Avg spread (pips) | Avg movement (pips) | Movement per pip of spread |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 0.8 | 6.6 | 8× |
| 01:00 | 0.8 | 7.1 | 9× |
| 02:00 | 0.8 | 5.9 | 7× |
| 03:00 | 0.8 | 4.9 | 6× |
| 04:00 | 0.8 | 4 | 5× |
| 05:00 | 0.8 | 5.5 | 7× |
| 06:00 | 0.8 | 8.8 | 11× |
| 07:00 | 0.8 | 10.6 | 13× |
| 08:00 | 0.8 | 9.5 | 12× |
| 09:00 | 0.8 | 7.3 | 9× |
| 10:00 | 0.8 | 7.3 | 9× |
| 11:00 | 0.8 | 7 | 9× |
| 12:00 | 0.8 | 9.8 | 12× |
| 13:00 | 0.8 | 14.8 | 18× |
| 14:00 | 0.8 | 21.6 | 27× |
| 15:00 | 0.8 | 11.3 | 14× |
| 16:00 | 0.8 | 7.1 | 9× |
| 17:00 | 0.8 | 7.1 | 9× |
| 18:00 | 0.8 | 4.6 | 6× |
| 19:00 | 0.8 | 5.5 | 7× |
| 20:00 | 0.914 | 4.8 | 5× |
| 21:00 | 1.853 | 3.8 | 2× |
| 22:00 | 0.8 | 4.2 | 5× |
| 23:00 | 0.8 | 3.8 | 5× |
Spread = average of all quotes captured in that hour over the last 24h; movement = average high–low of that hour over the last 7 sessions. Hours are MT5 server time.
All instruments — where spreads tighten and widen
| Instrument | Tightest avg spread | Widest avg spread | Biggest hourly movement | Movement-per-cost peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 0.8 at 07:00 | 1.853 at 21:00 | 21.6 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| GBP/USD | 1 at 07:00 | 8.385 at 21:00 | 26.7 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| USD/JPY | 1 at 07:00 | 16.648 at 21:00 | 33.3 at 13:00 | 13:00 |
| AUD/USD | 0.9 at 07:00 | 7.671 at 21:00 | 14.5 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| USD/CAD | 1.4 at 07:00 | 4.242 at 21:00 | 26.8 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| USD/CHF | 1.3 at 07:00 | 2.682 at 21:00 | 21.2 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| NZD/USD | 1.4 at 07:00 | 11.797 at 21:00 | 14.7 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| EUR/GBP | 1.3 at 07:00 | 3.118 at 21:00 | 8 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| EUR/JPY | 1.6 at 07:00 | 9.535 at 21:00 | 29.4 at 13:00 | 13:00 |
| GBP/JPY | 2.102 at 14:00 | 16.267 at 21:00 | 38.4 at 13:00 | 13:00 |
| AUD/JPY | 1.1 at 07:00 | 13.579 at 21:00 | 20.4 at 13:00 | 02:00 |
| XAU/USD (Gold) | 25.754 at 09:00 | 37.443 at 21:00 | 3737.6 at 13:00 | 13:00 |
| XAG/USD (Silver) | 3 at 07:00 | 3.114 at 22:00 | 97.1 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| US Oil (WTI) | 2 at 07:00 | 2 at 07:00 | 98.2 at 08:00 | 08:00 |
| UK Oil (Brent) | 3.46 at 20:00 | 4.329 at 00:00 | 96.7 at 08:00 | 08:00 |
| BTC/USD | 1000 at 07:00 | 1000 at 07:00 | 70730.1 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| ETH/USD | 100 at 07:00 | 100 at 07:00 | 3157.3 at 16:00 | 16:00 |
| US500 (S&P 500) | 40 at 07:00 | 80 at 21:00 | 2963.1 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| US30 (Dow) | 10 at 14:00 | 26.901 at 21:00 | 2104.6 at 13:00 | 14:00 |
| USTEC (Nasdaq 100) | 112 at 07:00 | 204.768 at 21:00 | 17564.3 at 14:00 | 14:00 |
| DE30 (DAX) | 7 at 07:00 | 84.476 at 23:00 | 964.7 at 08:00 | 08:00 |
| JP225 (Nikkei 225) | 31 at 15:00 | 50.032 at 22:00 | 6709.4 at 00:00 | 00:00 |
| UK100 (FTSE 100) | 98 at 07:00 | 860 at 20:00 | 4393.9 at 07:00 | 07:00 |
Spread in pips (points for non-FX). ‘Movement-per-cost peak’ is the hour with the most movement per pip of spread.
The rollover hour
In this sample the widest EUR/USD hour was 21:00 server time, where the average spread ran about 2× the typical hour. This is the daily rollover window — swaps are applied, liquidity providers reset, and quotes briefly widen. Positions held with tight stop-losses through this hour can be stopped out by the spread alone. The most active hours by tick count were 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00.
How this was measured
- Spread by hour: every captured quote on Exness's own MT5 feed, bucketed by server hour (last 24h).
- Movement by hour: average H1 candle range over the last 7 sessions, from the same feed.
- The ratio compares movement to entry cost only — it is not a prediction of direction.
- Figures refresh on a schedule and vary day to day.
Measured in-terminal on Exness’s own MetaTrader 5 pricing feed and symbol specifications, refreshed on a schedule. All figures are indicative and change with market conditions.
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